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To cite this article: Sharon L. Forbes , Ross Cullen , David A. Cohen , Stephen D. Wratten &
Joanna Fountain (2011) Food and Wine Production Practices: An Analysis of Consumer Views,
Journal of Wine Research, 22:1, 79-86, DOI: 10.1080/09571264.2011.550763
Download by: [Deakin University Library] Date: 20 March 2017, At: 04:26
Journal of Wine Research, 2011, Vol. 22, No. 1,
pp. 7986
ABSTRACT This study was designed to ascertain the degree to which consumers are concerned about
human health and environmental issues arising from both food and wine production. In particular,
this study sought, for the rst time, to compare consumer perceptions regarding food production
practices and wine production practices. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were completed
with 109 consumers inside supermarkets, general liquor stores and specialty wine stores in the city
of Christchurch, New Zealand. In general, consumers expressed a high level of concern regarding
the effects of agricultural (food) production practices on both their own health and on the health
of the environment. Consumers were found to be less concerned about the effects of wine production
practices on their health and the environment, but a large segment reported that they did not know
how wine was produced and thus had not, as yet, formed either positive or negative views about
the effects of wine production practices. At a practical level, this paper suggests that wine
marketers have a window of opportunity in which to positively inuence the large number of
consumers who currently do not hold any views regarding the effects of wine production on their
health or the environment. This paper is of signicant value because it provides a unique
comparison of consumer views regarding food production and wine production and it has added to
our knowledge of the green consumer.
Introduction
This exploratory study is designed to measure and analyse consumer perceptions of the
effect of both food and wine production on human health and environmental
well-being. In particular, the study aims to understand whether the reasonably
well-documented consumer concerns regarding general agricultural (food) production
will also apply to viticultural production. It also seeks to understand consumer
Sharon L. Forbes, Commerce Faculty, C316b, PO Box 84, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, Christchurch,
New Zealand (E-mail Sharon.Forbes@lincoln.ac.nz); Ross Cullen and David A. Cohen, Faculty of Com-
merce, Lincoln University, New Zealand; Stephen D. Wratten, Bio-Protection Research Centre, Lincoln
University, New Zealand; Joanna Fountain, Faculty of Environment, Society & Design, Lincoln University,
New Zealand
ISSN 0957-1264 print/ISSN 1469-9672 online/11/010079-8 # 2011 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/09571264.2011.550763
80 SHARON L. FORBES ET AL.
Based on the review above and trends in the global food industry, our rst hypotheses
are thus:
H1a: Consumers will have a high level of concern for the effects of convention-
al agricultural production practices on human health.
H1b: Consumers will have a high level of concern for the effects of convention-
al agricultural production practices on the environment.
Method
Shoppers in New Zealands second biggest city, Christchurch, were intercepted and
interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Interviews took place inside supermar-
kets, general liquor stores, and specialty wine stores and occurred at various times
over a seven-day timeframe in February 2008.
The questionnaire began with a qualifying question to ensure that the respondents
were consumers of wine. A series of statements and Likert scales anchored from 1
strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree were read to the respondents to ascertain
their views regarding agricultural food production, human and environmental
health. A dont know option was also included on the presented scale as a valid
option. A series of similar statements were then used to gather respondent views of
wine production and its effect on human and environmental health. In terms of meth-
odology, this study has adopted a quantitative approach similar to that of other
research into consumer views regarding topics such as the environment, sustainability
and buying behaviour (Weatherell et al., 2003; Vermeir and Verbeke, 2006; Collins
et al., 2007). The quantitative data were collected using scaled questionnaire items,
some of which were adopted or adapted from previous research (Blair and Sachs,
1988; Wandel and Bugge, 1997). Data were analysed in SPSS using descriptive stat-
istics and t-tests.
A total of 203 consumers were approached by the interviewer and 109 agreed to take
part, giving a response rate of 54%. Analysis revealed that 57% of respondents were
female and 43% were male. Unsurprisingly, a majority of the respondents who were
intercepted inside supermarket stores were female (64%), whilst a majority of those
who were interviewed in specialty wine stores were male (89%). The age of the respon-
dents represented in the sample ranged between 18 and 60+ years old. The sample
contained a high proportion of those aged over 60 (32%) reecting the consumers
who are most likely to be in stores during working hours, with around 15% aged less
than 35 years, and 53% aged between 35 and 59 years of age. The sample had a
higher than average level of education, with over 41% of the respondents having
attained an undergraduate or postgraduate degree.
Results
Respondent perceptions regarding the effects of agricultural food production on their
health and on the health of the environment are illustrated in Table 1. Overall,
54% of respondents believed that agricultural practices were harmful to the environ-
ment and a noteworthy 80% were concerned by the effects of agricultural practices
on the environment. In terms of human health, 78% of respondents felt that agricul-
tural chemicals used in food production were dangerous to them. Responses to these
statements indicated that consumers were concerned by conventional agricultural pro-
duction practices on both their own health and on the well-being of the environment,
and therefore provided strong support for both H1a and H1b.
FOOD AND WINE PRODUCTION PRACTICES 83
Respondent views regarding the effects of viticulture and wine production on human
health and on the health of the environment are illustrated in Table 2. With regards to
the environment, only 20% of respondents believed that grape growing and winemak-
ing practices were not safe and less than half (44%) thought that the agricultural
chemicals used in grape growing were harmful to the environment. Over 70% of
respondents were condent that the wine they purchased was safe to drink; however,
46% perceived that the agricultural chemicals used in grape growing were dangerous
to their health. A considerable number of respondents did not know whether they
agreed or disagreed with these statements; this large group of consumers lacked knowl-
edge of the wine production process. These results did not provide strong support for
H2a and H2b.
Finally, calculations were performed to compare the strength of consumer views
regarding the effects of both food and wine production practices. The neither and
dont know cases were omitted from these calculations as these did not indicate any
denitive view regarding food and wine production practices. A paired samples t-test
indicated that respondents had, on average, signicantly higher concern for the
effects of agricultural chemicals on human health in food production than they had
about wine production, t(61) 4.2, p .000, d .53. Similarly, another paired
samples t-test indicated that respondents had a signicantly higher concern for the
84 SHARON L. FORBES ET AL.
effects of food production on the environment than they had about wine production,
t(52) 2.9, p .005, d .40. For both environment and human health, consumers
exhibited a higher level of concern with food production practices than with wine pro-
duction practices, thus providing support for H3a and H3b.
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